Noisia - Outer Edges

Noisia
Outer Edges
2016
Spotify

If sitting in a tropical breeze and letting some shimery tunes wash over you is your idea of a good time than Noisia likely aren't for you. The UK based drum and bass trio have returned with this second album Outer Edges which is just as dark, driving and bass heavy as anything they have done. Diving into a drum and bass record is often a bit of a challenge. This music is not meant to be poured and scrutinized from behind a desk, it was meant to be experienced communally, all under one roof raving. So this means you have to put yourself in that head space to really find some kind of appreciation. Most drum and bass tracks will have more than a fair share of buzz, the bass simply taking over, but Noisia don't let this dominate their sound, they use it sparingly as an accent rather than an unavoidable issue. A song like "Collider" which features one of their more intricate arrangements push the dance forward but also releases the pressure with little interludes and breaks in the action. This does not feel like the early days of drum and bass where decibels and RPMs were the major concern, instead Noisia are evoking a place and a sense of wonder that perhaps made them fall in love with the genre in the first place. The hip hop inspired "Vigilantes" also shows the group breaking from tradition to bring in something very fresh sounding.

For as much as they achieve by not sticking with the usual way of doing things, they can slip into some of the Drum and Bass tendencies that everyone seems to hate. Often they will get bogged down with one line of music and ride it until it becomes almost maddening. The release you get from a soaring riff is so pleasant but Noisia aren't interested in that, they instead want to take you deeper, darker and leave you more uneased. "Motion Blur" is incredibly stripped down and focuses on one beat for almost the entire track which is interesting but never really quite connects like perhaps it should. Noisia are able to capture some really great beats but they aren't able to really expand them in a strong way, that is why you get this adherence to keep a piece of a song going for longer than you probably should. There are quite a few really solid elements on this album but the final product never quite comes together. Songs like "Miniatures" and "Collider" are worth a listen, but as a whole it's hard to convince someone to power through it.

6.5 out of 10